Neighbors Say Dutschke Arrest Brings Peace

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(Tupelo, MS) Rosie Farmer says Canal street is more quiet today than it’s been in about a week.

That’s when the FBI, and hordes of reporters descended on this block in search of facts about her neighbor Everett Dutschke.

A brief court appearance in Oxford Monday confirmed he’s now the prime suspect in the ricin letters case involving President Obama, Senator Roger Wicker and a local Justice Judge.

That news took Farmer by surprise, ”It was surprising yeah, because he got kids, a family man. It was surprising to me”.

This quiet neighborhood sits just a mile or so from Elvis Presley’s Birthplace.

But now, it has a more sinister reputation some say isn’t totally deserved.

Most people we talked to in the neighborhood didn’t have a lot to say about Dutschke, though several mentioned something “off” about him.

One though, said Dutschke flat-out made him nervous.

Devante Hampton indicated he never really liked Dutschke, who he said came by often, recruiting for his martial arts classes, ”When I was walking down the street, little kids standing outside and him with his drawers on. That’s just sick."

Dutschke reportedly has a charge of exposing himself, and he’s out on bond on a charge of fondling three teenage girls in the Tupelo area.

He pleaded not guilty to the fondling charge and was released on 25-thousand dollars bond.

With all the traffic, the FBI and reporters, Rosie Farmer says she’s just glad for the return of peace and quiet, ”I’m just glad to get back normal, all that other stuff to be gone”.

Even though prosecutors released relatively little information on his arrest today, local observers with inside knowledge believe the case against him is much more solid than that of Kevin Curtis who walked out of this courthouse a free man last week, as the focus turned to Duschke.